Knife In the Dark
by Justice Asunder
Summary: A story following Quinn in pursuit of an assassin killing dozens of civilians and government officals named Talon in pursuit in his long lost master, General Marcus Du Couteau and a strange creature that killed her twin brother, Caleb. A devious creature born from the rune wars named Zyra. Runs parallel with Justice Asunder.
1. Chapter 1

Knife in the Dark

By Joseph Milam

Chapter One

Antecedent

A torrential downpour fell upon the dark gray of the cobblestone streets of the rural outskirts of Demacia's dominion. The malignant darkness of the clouds descending upon the poor townsfolk of the petite village known as Ponsburry. A bolt of lightning forks down upon the distant countryside and sends a flash of night throughout the town, revealing a compilation of poorly built thatch hovels and small brick houses surrounded by a low wooden wall. Another bolt of lightning forks through the clouds and is visible through a large puddle before a sudden disturbance in the water sends ripples in all directions.

A young man, hardly out of his youth, with blond hair ran through the puddle, his clothes were soaked and torn, small lines of red barely visible across his bare skin. His unblemished face was distorted with panic as he sprinted through the rain, taking a sudden right turn past a brick home. He repeatedly looked over his shoulder and breathed audibly as he ran. He nimbly vaulted over a short iron fence containing the church cemetery. He weaved his way through the head stones at a quick pace and vaulted over the other side of the fence. He turned his head one more time and found himself staring at the wooden wall protecting the town. He looked to his left and right seeing no where else to run and jumped high, grabbing onto the top of it with his hands. As he tried to pull himself up a wickedly spiked blade pierced through his left hand and pinned it against the wall. He screamed out in pain and let go of the wall, causing him to spin around and hang suspended from his pinned down left hand for a few moments until his weight forced the blade to slice through his flesh, freeing him but leaving his hand almost completely severed.

A faint sound of footsteps could be heard through the rain and the young blond man on the ground whimpered as a shape began to materialize out of the rain. The shadowy figure quickly growing more clear as it got closer until finally a man with a purple cloak adorned with blades stepped forward a few feet in front of his victim The young man feebly pulled a small dagger from his coat and held it up weakly but the man towering above him simply kicked it from his hand and produced a long sharp blade of his own. He held it up to the boy's throat.

"Wh-wh-what have I done to deserve such a death?" The blond man asked as tears ran down his face. He gazed into the eyes of his soon-to-be killer, searching for some sign of empathy but finding none. The man in the purple cloak dropped down on his knee and dug his blade into the grass in between him and the boy.

"You betrayed our master, child." He said adamantly. The boy gazed at him quizzically for a moment before a strange grin came across his face. He raised his nearly bisected hand.

"Marcus Du Couteau? I do not recall him being my master. I am no slave, unlike yourself, Talon." He spat the last word. Talon brought the blade from the turf and brought it to the young man's throat.

"He saved you as he saved me. You owe him everything." Talon growled and the young man simply scoffed.

"Saved me? He ruined me! Turning a poor innocent boy into an assassin! He was a monster. Just like you." He taunted and Talon suppressed his anger.

"Where is he?" He demanded. The young man laughed.

"I am much more scared of what they will do to me than what you can do."

"Where is he?" He asked again, this time he reached over to the man's injured hand and squeezed down on the wound hard. He roared in pain but his morals did not flinch.

"Kill me. I will never talk." He rose his chin defiantly spat into Talon's young face. Talon stood up and brought the blade back into the air.

"As you wish." He stabbed forward.

"Stop!" He heard and he quickly turned around and saw a beautiful young girl, not yet a woman but nearing so. She had short dark gray hair and large yellow eyes. Her face was full of unimaginable grief and pain. Her clothes were ripped and tattered exposing various wounds and marks across her body. "Please, I have had enough killing." She slowly walked towards Talon fearlessly and he turned about her and brought the blade around and pointed it at her as she approached him.

"Get back, no one else has to die. This man deserves and welcomes death." He declared but the girl kept walking until she was directly in front of the blade. She placed her forehead against the point of the weapon.

"If you are going to kill me, kill me now. I welcome death as well." She looked straight into Talon's eyes. He almost flinched as he saw the pain in her bright yellow eyes. He stepped back a few steps and turned to the young man on the floor who had simply watched the two.

"My dear, this is no place for a child. You must go before you become even more grieved." he smiled sympathetically and the girl looked at him with her intense eyes and he shuttered. He turned back to Talon. "You see this young girl? You see the pain in her eyes? She is much more grieved than you have ever been yet she is humble and graceful. Why can you not be as such?"

"Because I am a killer." Talon said grimly as he brought his blade down into the young man's chest. He groaned softly as the blade broke his ribs but was quickly silenced as it edged swiftly into his heart. Talon withdrew the blade cleanly from his victim and sheathed it and turned quickly back to the young girl. She did not flinch, she simply looked down at the now dead man and back up at him. The two looked intensely into each others eyes for a few moments before Talon made a move to leave.

"Why?" She asked simply. Talon shrunk back into the shadows.

"I must find and avenge my master, he is all I have." He whispered. The young woman watched the shadows for a few moments and then slowly left, the rain pouring down upon her small frame. She walked slowly down the wet streets until she reached the doorstep of a small hovel and collapsed. A few moments later the door opened and the young girl was dragged inside.

She awoke the next morning. An older but still beautiful woman was standing over her as she opened her eyes. The woman gasped as her eyes slowly opened. "Quinn! Quinn my dear are you alright?" she asked as tears ran down her face. Quinn slowly raised herself upright in the bed and looked at the woman.

"Caleb is dead, mother." She said grimly, her face set in stone with a visage of despair. Her mother looked at her and shook her head in the negative.

"No, no no! He can't be!" She shrieked and fell upon her knees. Quinn felt tears run down her face.

"God Dammit I told you two to not to go out on your own." said a balding man sitting in a chair. His face was distraught but he was not crying like her mother.

"Father, we were not children anymore, you could not keep us holed up in this house and expect us to grow out of our ambitions!" Quinn shouted. Her father stood up and walked to her bedside and sighed before quickly slapping her across the face.

"You impudent child! What do you know of the world besides your petty fantasies? You poisoned his mind with your thoughts of adventure!" He spat on the floor next to him. Her mother grasped his legs.

"Oh Benjamin, be kind. She is more hurt than we could imagine..." she sobbed. Her father simply stared at Quinn.

"You should have been the one who died. What use is a woman over a man?" He scoffed as more tears welled up in Quinn's eyes.

"Oh dear, do not speak such words to our daughter! She is all we have now!" Her mother screeched. Benjamin turned back to her and pointed a menacing finger at the two of them.

"Shut your mouth woman. As for you, Quinn, I expect you to be gone when I return from the workshop. Do not return unless you are in a coffin." He went over to a wall where two uniforms hung on the wall, one fit for the size of a man the size of Quinn. For Caleb, her twin brother. Benjamin quickly dressed himself in the clothes and stormed out of the hovel. Quinn looked at her brother's uniform on the wall for a few moments before she felt her mother stirring.

"Quinn, do not let his words poison your spirits. You are our last hope for glory. Do not let your dreams of Knighthood go because of this grief." She said as she crawled up to the bedside. Quinn looked blankly down at her mother.

"There are no dreams of Knighthood, that was a child's fancy. I am no child, I am a woman now." She said grimly and rose from the bed and stood next to her mother who began to weep again. She looked down at her and then quickly turned to the wall, grabbed a large blue cloak and opened the door. She stood there as she brought the cloak around her petite shoulders and tied it about her neck. She rose the hood over he young attractive face. "I love you mother, tell father that I love him also and that I will obey his command." She gazed out the door into the street.

"Quinn please do not go!" her mother screeched "He did not mean it! He was just angry!" her voice barely audible through all the sobs and sniveling. Quinn looked back at her mother for the last time, kissed her own hand and blew it towards her mother and was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Valor

It had been a year since Quinn had departed from her life long home in Ponsburry. A year of backpacking across western Valoran, never settling in a single town or city for more than a few days at a time, shrugging off any conversation that was offered up to her by anyone except the occasional Demacian soldier, often handing them a letter address to home. On the day before the eve of Caleb's death she set off for the Kumungu Jungles. To the site of Caleb's grave. She walked the way, even after being warned at Mogron's Pass that the way was extremely dangerous. When a guard tried to stop her out of good faith she turned upon him, flipping him flat on the ground and turning his own weapon against him. He offered no more trouble as she continued on, the once finely paved road turning into a mere dirt path as the wild growth grew wilder and thicker as she pressed on. Only one thought went through her mind as she walked, the thought of the day of her brothers death.

Quinn stumbled through the dense woodland growth just behind her brother who had been cleaving a path with a large machete. He was exactly the same as her, short and thin but with a strong handsome face and piercing yellow eyes. They both wore a blue cloak and a brown leather vest underneath. Quinn carried a small plain crossbow and Caleb, alongside the machete carried a large wicked but old scimitar on his belt. They had spent an hour cleaving there way through thorny vines before Quinn grabbed her brother by the shoulder.

"Brother, I think this undergrowth will never end, maybe we should take a break and head back to that path we saw a few miles back." She suggested. Caleb turned to her and beamed brightly.

"I will take a break sister, but we go head on into the unexplored lands! Where is your spirit of adventure? It is not like we are going to get lost." He teased and pointed back to the clearly defined path of sliced vegetation behind them. Quinn scoffed and they both sat down and drank some water.

"I feel like the air has gotten less dense than a few minutes ago, maybe we are nearing a clearing?" Quinn pointed out. Caleb rose quickly to his feet and smiled.

"That is the spirit!" He turned and began cleaving his way through the thorns. After only a few moments of cutting a blinding patch of light burst forth and Caleb laughed aloud and pressed on through. He tumbled forward as his foot got caught on a root and when he landed he looked up and called upon his sister. When she came forth from the vegetation she saw a large rock with a strange golden rod sticking forth from its flank in the middle of the clearing. She walked forward awestruck and almost tripped over her brother as he stumbled up. They both approached it and rubbed their hands against the rock and the rod. Suddenly the rock moved clockwise as Caleb asserted force upon the rod. He signaled for her sister and together they pushed the rod and the rock began to rotate until the duo felt the ground vibrate beneath them and suddenly a patch of the earth collapsed revealing a tunnel into the ground. Quinn and Caleb turned to each other.

"I think we found something." Caleb pointed out. Quinn jabbed him softly in the ribs with her elbow and laughed.

"How observant you are, Caleb!" She teased as she rummaged through her coat pocket. She brought out a small metal shaft and shook it, causing it to gleam with light. Caleb did the same.

"Ladies first." He said as Quinn ducked into the cavern. The light given off from the metal device revealed a small and narrow staircase that led down into a chamber a few yards down. Quinn cautiously entered and saw that the room was adorned with large statuettes of snakes and strange plants made of jade and gold. At the end of the chamber sat an altar with a strange glass container atop it. Quinn approached it as Caleb scrutinized the statues. Inside the glass case was a small ornate brooch with a thorny flower shaped lock and a rose like figure on its face. She gently placed her hand against the glass and felt a slight rumble in the earth.

"Caleb, come here." She whispered and he quickly scurried over. He looked at the brooch and smiled.

"I think we found something." He smiled but Quinn simply stared into the container, something about the jewelry called to her.

"Open it, Caleb." She said blankly and he scoffed.

"You women and your jewelry." he teased and raised the glass container into the air. Again she felt the earth tremble and she looked to her brother who suddenly became hesitant. He felt a trickle of dust drip fall onto his head and quickly stepped back as a portion of the chamber collapsed where he was just standing.

"Run!" Quinn shouted and the two bolted out of the chamber, quickly followed by collapsing rock and earth. Quinn and Caleb dived out of the cavern as the entrance began to collapse, nearly entrapping them inside. Caleb turned to Quinn and sighed.

"I think I have had enough adventure for one day." Quinn slapped him on the chest and grabbed the container from his hand. She saw a small metal device upon its base and she touched it. The glass container opened magically from the top and a strange stench came forth from it and Quinn reeled back in reaction to it. It took a few moments for the odor to subside but when it did she came back to the container and reached inside, grabbing the brooch cautiously and placing it in her open palms. Caleb crawled over and looked at it.

"What do you think it is worth?" he asked. Quinn shook her head and turned to him.

"I have no clue." She placed it gently on the ground. She watched it and suddenly she saw the grass around it wither and die. She pointed to it and Caleb gasped. The two heard a sharp snap in the vegetation nearby and they quickly rose to their feet, weapons drawn. Their eyes batted back and forth until a vine reached out from the undergrowth and snatched Quinn by her ankle. She screamed as she was dragged but Caleb quickly threw his machete, severing the vine and resulting in a gut wrenching scream from the undergrowth. It wriggled and writhed before retreating back inside. Quinn quickly tore the severed half of the vine off of her ankle and tossed it aside.

"Caleb... We have to run." She whispered. Caleb ignored her, is eyes batting back and forth. Another thorny tendril came forth but he swung quickly and cleaved it into two pieces before it reached him. He felt two vines wrap around both his arms and he jerked forward, freeing himself. Quinn, shaking in fear, fired her crossbow into the thicket around them where ever she heard a noise, occasionally the gut wrenching scream was sent forth. Suddenly a vine took the weapon from her hands and sundered it into two with a loud snap. It came back with its red thorns headed straight for her. She jumped up to avoid a sweeping blow to her legs and rolled over to Caleb's discarded machete. She turned about just in time to bisect the tendril that had assailed her. She quickly turned around to feign past another strike from another vine before bringing the blade home in the larger and thicker vine, severing it. Green ooze flew forth from the wound and the scream was rung through the air again.

Caleb quickly ducked down to avoid a strike to his head before bringing his scimitar around and a wide arc, cutting off the tips of two vines before he was tripped and began being dragged. He kicked and slashed until he was freed. He looked up at his sister and saw a vine creeping up behind her as she was dispatching another. "Behind you!" He shouted and she quickly spun around and brought it down with a few swift strokes. Her body armor was spattered with green liquid. Caleb rolled to dodge another vine strike and felt the golden brooch dig into his side. He picked it up and held it in front of him. The vines all around him quickly retreated away from him. He turned to his sister again. "Quinn come to me!" He shouted and she fought her way to him until the two stood together. Vines quickly surrounded them at all sides. He handed the brooch to Quinn and the two began to run, the vines retreating away from them as they moved. When they reached the thorny hedge that surrounded them the two heard a terrifying roar as a monstrous plant crept into the opening. It walked atop a dozen of smaller vines and had a body that was a large stalk capped with a large pink flower that brandished a brilliant bud with sharp teeth protruding from its flanks.. The vines that they had fought seemed to emerge from underneath the petals of the flower head, like arms.

Caleb pushed forward and the thicket in front of them quickly withered as the brooch neared it. Suddenly Quinn heard a groan from her brother and she quickly turned to see a thorny spike obtruding from his breast, shining red with blood. The vine led all the way back to the terrifying mouth of the monstrous flower that had emerged from the vegetation. It slowly tightened as it began to pull Caleb back towards it. The tip of the vine began to brown as it neared the brooch but the beast persisted.

"Caleb, no!" Quinn shouted and leaped towards him but he kicked her back. He coughed and blood spritzed forth from his mouth.

"Run Quinn! Run!" He shouted and he gripped the withering roots beneath them, resisting the monster pulling at him. Quinn walked backwards, watching her brother as he screamed at her to run. Suddenly the beast jerked hard and Quinn heard Caleb's arms snap and break as he was yanked free from the tangled roots and brought into the beast's mouth. Quinn bolted away, with tears running down her face.

The thicket subsided as Quinn pressed forward, the golden brooch pinned against her cloak. She felt the air get thinner and knew that the clearing was near. She saw rays of light through the undergrowth and suddenly she was there. She looked around, scrutinizing the area for any differences but there were none. All the severed vines were gone. Quinn ducked down as she saw a movement behind the large boulder with the golden shaft sticking from its flank. She crept closely to the rock and heard a strange groan, and when she peeked around the boulder she found that a massive eagle with a brilliant blue, purple and yellow down. She saw a strange spike sticking forth from its wing, pinning it against its small torso. It's head quickly jutted up and looked at Quinn. It tried to fly away but in vain, causing it to fall down and cry out in pain.

Quinn held her hands out in a sign of submissiveness and slowly approached the bird. It squawked at her but did not move. She brought her hand onto the bird's head and patted it gently. She drew her hand back quickly before the bird could snap at her. After missing its bite, the bird went back to pecking at its wound. Quinn again brought her hand on the bird but this time it simply looked at her. She saw something in its eyes, something familiar. She brought her hand down upon the spike and the bird shrieked in protest but she brought her other hand to its head and stroked it reassuringly. She quickly jerked the spike free and the bird sprang to life. It squawked and shrieked as it bounced up and down, flapping its wings wildly in an attempt to take flight. Quinn grabbed the bird and it looked quizzically at her. She held out her arm and it mounted it, digging its sharp talons into her forearm. She rose her arm up high and the bird took flight, almost failing at first but catching itself in the air and soaring quickly into the heavens until it was out of sight.

Quinn sighed as she watched the bird fly. She leaned against the boulder and sat down. "Caleb, I miss you." she said aloud. Tears welled up in her eyes but they did not fall upon her cheeks. Instead she drew up his machete from underneath her cloak and turned around to face the rock. She slashed at the rock repeatedly until two words were etched into it: Caleb Cornwall. She sighed and looked up at the sky for a few moments before she heard a snap in the thicket. She lowered ahead and looked straight forward as a figure began to emerge from the undergrowth. It was a strikingly beautiful young woman with long red hair and a well kept body. She was completely naked and bore quite ample breasts and lascivious curves. The woman looked at Quinn and smiled awkwardly. Quinn's brow furled in confusion.

"Do you not remember me?" She asked. Quinn's face went from a state of confusion to a visage of terror as she watched vines come forth from the ground. They brought themselves slowly around the woman's feet and legs. She shuttered pleasurably as they slid over her womanhood and the vines continued to creep up her body, covering her hips and breasts and spiraling down her arms.

"I like this new form" she said as closed her eyes and slid her hand down to her womanhood. "It feels...so good." Quinn's jaw dropped in horror as the monster fondled itself in front of her. It opened its eyes again. "You should try it!" She lashed at her quickly but Quinn rolled to the side just in time, the lash left a huge cut in the boulder just over Caleb's name. Quinn reached into her cloak and pulled a crossbow from it and fired a bolt into the beast. A vine lashed out from her body and grabbed the bolt mid flight and snapped it in half. Another vine grabbed the crossbow from her hand and threw it upon the ground. The beast held out its hand and a thin, whip-like vine came forth from it. She used it to grab Quinn by her leg and pulled her down on the floor.

"I like your body. I think I will take it!" The beast said and Quinn began to fell small vines crawling up her legs. She screamed in protest but the beast merely laughed and continued. Quinn reached for the machete and when she grabbed it she lashed out at the vines that had began to attempt to undress her. The best groaned in pain and a larger vine wrapped around her arms and held them apart. Quinn again felt the vines running up her legs and she screamed to the heavens as she felt one of the vines stab down into her leg. She looked up and the sun was blocked out for a moment and then suddenly the massive blue eagle came down upon the beast and drove its talons directly into its shoulder. The vines released Quinn and she turned to the bird. It turned to her for just a moment and felt a pang on nostalgia, she heard the words of her brother running through her mind.

"Run, Quinn! Run!" The voice said and she ran. She made it to the edge of the thicket when she looked back and saw the bird being thrown off of the beast and the thorny vines lashed at it but the bird was nimble and dodged most of the blows as it circled around. Suddenly the beast seized it by its feet and dragged it towards it. Quinn cried as the bird shrieked in pain. She looked down for a moment and saw the gold brooch gleaming in the grass at her feet. She picked it up and looked back at the bird. A strange bulge formed on the chest of the monster that looked like a large mouth and it began to bring the bird towards it. She gripped the brooch in her hand firmly and dashed forward, racing the vines bringing the bird to its death. She balled the brooch in her fist and swung with all of her force and struck the beast in the strange formation on its chest and released the brooch into the mouth.

It shrieked in pain as the vines turned brown and began to wither. It looked back at Quinn, roared and dashed back into the thicket with frightening speed. The bird dropped down and landed in Quinn's arms. She looked down at it and it looked back up at her, with those familiar eyes.

"Thank you." Quinn whispered. The bird tilted his head sideways as she spoke and gently pecked her in the ribs. Quinn smiled for a moment but another pang of nostalgia coursed through her veins. A memory of her playfully jabbing Caleb in the rib stirred in her mind as she looked back down at the bird. "You remind me of my brother. So honorable and valiant he was..." a tear ran down her face. The bird reached up and rubbed its beak gently against her eye, wiping away the tear. Suddenly she hugged the bird softly against her chest and began to weep. The bird gently nuzzled its beautiful head against her short gray hair until she stopped crying.

"Valor..." she sniveled "That will be your name..."


End file.
